An Unexpectedly Chosen Adventure
by WhizkidHV
Summary: It started with a whim. The next thing I knew, I was standing in an alleyway, which was in a city I knew next to nothing about, in a universe I also knew next to nothing about, and with powers, perks, and complications that I didn't pay much attention to when I chose them. I should have known better than even beginning to entertain a new plot bunny...
1. Prologue

Prologue: Beware the call

It started with a whim. Spring break had started, and I was ahead of all my classes for once, having worked ahead a few weeks.

It was night, and since it had been a while since I read any fanfiction, I decided to reward myself with a well-deserved binge. During said binge, I don't remember how I came across it exactly, I found the premise for the Worm CYOA, the one with those utterly ridiculous powers.

Now, I only had the vaguest idea of what 'Worm' was, due to seeing a few fanfics on the favorites list of some of the writers I followed, so I wasn't that interested in the CYOA at first, but I was bored and wanted to stretch my creative muscles after leaving them so long unused.

An hour or so later, I was looking at a filled word document with the choices I had made if I would write a story with that premise. With that done, I promptly forgot about it and read some more fanfiction before going to sleep.

When I woke up, I found myself standing in a dirty alleyway dressed in a simple black t-shirt and jeans, with a single hundred dollar bill in my pocket.

Faced with that fact, along with the sudden recollection of what I had been doing before I fell asleep, I could only say one thing.

"Crap."

* * *

A/N: So I recently stumbled upon the Worm CYOA in Spacebattles and thought it sounded fun. This is the result of that. I guarantee absolutely nothing about this story's quality, plot, characters, update speed, length, etc., other than the fact that I'll be modeling my actions as realistically as possible in accordance to how I would act given little to no prior knowledge of the setting, superpowers, and being a forgetful guy who should have paid more attention to what he wrote down for his decisions in the CYOA.

Have fun reading the mess I get myself into.

* * *

Worm CYOA

Nature of Entry: Self Insert

Difficulty: Skitter Mode

Powers: Alexandria, Shaper

Companions: None

Perks: Blank, Shattered Limiter, Invictus, Inspiration, First Impressions

Complications: Marked(Wards, PRT, Empire Eighty Eight), The Slaughterhouse is Hiring, Leviathan

Victory condition: Survive past death of remaning entity/Survive ten years


	2. Chapter 1: I should've read the story

Chapter 1: I really should've read the story first...

I was in a dirty alleyway. Presumably, said alleyway was in Brockton Bay if things were turning out as I thought they were.

"Crap."

This was bad. Beyond bad.

I knew almost nothing about Worm. Sure, I had read a few fanfictions about it, and maybe the first chapter now that I thought about it, but beyond that I had nothing.

_Calm down._

I took a deep breath, and instantly felt the stress fading away.

Alright. Let's figure this out.

So I was thrown into a world I knew almost nothing about. A crapsack world at that, from what I could remember. Superheroes were commonplace... I think, along with supervillains. Their powers were made from shards of some multiversal being... thingy, and triggered by some traumatic event or something.

I should have powers too, operating on a separate system than these 'shards' or whatever.

As for what I had chosen, along with the perks and stuff... I didn't remember.

"I should really pay more attention to the fineprint in these kinds of things... granted, you couldn't really plan for getting thrown into another world, but still."

I sighed. "Alright. Well, I need a place to stay. A hundred bucks... maybe I could get a hotel somewhere? Hopefully? Wait. I don't know where I am... crap."

I sighed again and headed off in a random direction.

My surroundings weren't very assuring. I'd been in some relatively rundown and questionable places in my time, and from the looks of things around me, this place wasn't any different. And if experience proved correct...

"Hey, a chink's messing around on our turf!"

"...Can you be anymore stereotypically racist?" I muttered.

After that, a half dozen men, all caucasian, came in from side alleys and doors on either side of the alley I was on. All were armed with various weapons, from metal baseball bats to a few guns.

"Think he's from the ABB?" said the same guy who shouted first.

"Tch, who else could it be?"

I was outnumbered, outgunned, and obviously in mortal danger. _White racist pricks looking for a fight... the Empire Eighty Eight, right? Just great._

There wasn't time to think. All I knew was that sticking around would be a bad idea.

Like that, I was suddenly moving forward.

-Fight or flight. I couldn't run, so my only way out of here alive was to fight.

My sudden aggression must have taken them all by surprise. Before any of them could move, I had already disarmed the guy closest to me, taking his weapon for my own.

_A gun?_ _I could have sworn that the closest guy had been holding a bat-_

"What the- Take him out!"

Hostile intent. I couldn't run while they had that. There were people with guns there, and I doubted my ability to dodge bullets, even if I had somehow managed to take out a person with a gun already.

A small part of me noted that I was acting weird. Faced with firearms, I knew for a fact that I would at least tense up, but I wasn't doing as much as flinching.

_Think on it later! Get out of here first!_

Gunfire, a brief staccato of shots that filled the air. Surprisingly, the cause wasn't the men chasing me, but myself. I had fired without hesitation, emptying the clip into elbows, knees, and other joints that would be debilitating, but not inherently lethal.

"The hell-? Is he a cape?!" That was the same person who had noticed me and shouted the warning. Taking a closer look, I realized that he was surprisingly not a redneck like I mentally grouped him to be, but an ordinary guy that you would see anywhere on the street.

He scowled and then drew a gun on me. "I'll..."

I was out of ammo. He had a gun. There was only one course of action.

I threw the empty gun in my hands.

"...show you- oof!"

A direct hit, and he fell to the ground.

Seeing that nobody else would be in pursuit, I made my way down the alley, this time making sure to be extra cautious for any other troublemakers.

There weren't any, and I found myself emerging from the alleyway into an urban area, where I saw people milling about as they went on along their daily lives.

Taking another look around and seeing the unfamiliar buildings and terrain, I sighed.

"Great. Now what?"


	3. Chapter 2: Extreme Measures

Chapter 2: Extreme measures

I made my way into a hotel, shoulders squared and face set in a confident smile. I could practically feel all eyes on me as I did so, but ignored them.

I had nothing on me but a hundred dollars. I knew for a fact that wasn't enough to pay for a hotel room. However, I also knew for a fact that there were ways around this, namely that people ran the hotel and people could be sympathetic.

What I would try was something that I normally hesitated to even think about. It was something I had learned while working a job in sales, and a thought I expanded upon with some trial and error in my life.

You see, there were always discounts. If people sympathized or liked you, any price could be waived. It was only a matter of how convincing, interesting, and confident you were when you talked to them, as well as making them emotionally invested in you.

In short, it boiled down to providing enough intrinsic value with your presence to pay off the explicit value of money.

The receptionist at the desk was a young blonde woman, blue-eyed, attractive and no doubt hired in part due to her looks. Since it was midday, she seemed bored, but I could see her eyes light up the moment I walked in. The tag on her shirt said that her name was Ashley, a fact that I'd turn into an irresistible weapon in a few moments.

_Remember, it's not taking advantage of them. It's an equal exchange._

I said that to myself to justify my following actions, the emotional manipulation that would be even easier considering my target was both female and apparently interested in me.

Without pause, I made my way to the front desk, making sure to keep my eyes locked on hers, and said, "Hey there, Ashley! I was walking by and noticed how bored you looked, so I thought I could keep you company for a bit..."

* * *

Ashley pressed a pair of cardkeys into my hands and bit her lip. "Are you sure this is alright, Alan? I can give a bigger room if you want..."

I gave her a wide smile and nodded. "This is great, Ashley. Thanks!" I frowned. "...But are you sure you don't want me to pay for this? I know I only have a hundred dollars, but if there's anything I can do-"

She gave me an exasperated sigh and shook her head. "I'm telling you, it's fine! A few days won't hurt anybody. But if you really want to pay me back..." Ashley trailed off, her eyes flicking down and back up. "You could always stay at my place for a few nights."

"Hahaha... you're funny, Ashley."

I took the keycards and unlocked the door. "Thanks again for the help! I'll see you later!"

I entered the room before she could say anything else and quickly shut the door behind me.

"Meanie!"

I let out a sigh. It looked like she wouldn't be bothering me for a bit longer, though I'd probably have to deal with some teasing on my way out later.

I shook my head and took a look around the room.

It was a pretty standard setup. A bed, a bath. A walkout porch with a window facing the streets. The usual accommodations, TV, sink, etc.

I sat down on the bed and scoured my head for what kind of mess I had entered myself into.

So it seemed like I had been thrown into that Worm CYOA. On the upside, I had broken superpowers, at least in the context of the story. On the downside, I had no clue what perks or complications I had chosen.

Let's see what I could remember...

Obviously self insert. Difficulty should be skitter mode, whatever that meant.

I knew that I chose Alexandria and Shaper for powers. That much I could remember, since they were the least broken of the... six, I think, powers that were there.

Comrades... I think I toyed around with choosing those three creatures, but I decided that point was better served to get perks.

Perks. Right. Just what the heck did I choose again? Blank, I chose for sure. I didn't want to be screwed over by any broken prediction powers.

Shattered Limits should have been another. Exponential growth for the win, as well as compensating for limitations on my powers.

Ah, right. That's what skitter mode did. That would explain why I couldn't feel them or mess around with them right now... though that could just be due to me not trying.

I'll think about that in a bit.

Other perks I chose... I was pretty sure First Impressions was one. Invictus should be another... Oh. That would explain why it was so easy to talk to and persuade Ashley.

Probably also why I didn't freeze up when faced with firearms. Huh. Not sure if I should be worried about that or not, but I guess if it kept me alive...

Anyway, I remember I had to choose complications to get points. The problem was, I don't remember what complications I chose.

I toyed around with choosing everything gets worse, since it gave four points and I felt I could deal with it. But then logic kicked in and I changed that.

The problem was, I didn't know if the 'stats' I got initialized were came from my first choices or my last.

...This was going to be a pain.

I sighed and leaned back on the bed. "No idea what perks I've got, no idea what the plot is, and no idea if I have Fate out to make my life miserable."

I should just _think of a plan._

I was an unknown quantity in this universe. Lots of good people were going to be hurt. The entire world would be destroyed by some eldritch abomination or something another unless it was stopped, which would be much easier if I helped.

Right now, I had nothing but a hundred dollar bill and the clothes on my back. I had _no_ idea how my powers-

_Alexandria is currently limited to invulnerability, hyper reflexes, perfect memory, perfect proprioception, and Olympic level physical performance._

_Shaper is currently limited to biomass generation (1 ounce), creation of a single life form per day (dependent on biomass available and comprehension of conceptual design), command of created life forms, hive mind, organic manipulation (range of 1 arm's length), and instant analysis of carbon-based life forms._

-worked.

I blinked as the information came up in my field of vision on a black screen, like a game window.

"...That's convenient."

I could work with that. It looked like Skitter Mode had limited my powers quite a bit from what I remembered them being when I selected them, but not that much.

Assuming the worst case scenario, where this world basically became hell on earth, figuratively speaking, I was still guaranteed a trip home since I couldn't be destroyed, and the victory conditions were to just last a few years, I think, or past the final battle against the entity-thingy. But there would be people dying, good people at that.

_I will not allow that._

I sat up a course of action decided.

...It was probably a stupid one at that, since it could go horribly, horribly wrong if my powers didn't restrain it. On the other hand, it could go terrifically great.

I grabbed a plant sitting in the corner of the room and set to work making either my greatest asset or my greatest failure in this existence-

The X Parasite.

* * *

A/N: I can't _possibly_ think of a way this can go wrong, right?


End file.
